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Perhaps you skipped over National Honesty Day ? It was celebrated
this year (and indeed every year) on April 30. But
truly for businesses, honesty should not be just a once-a-year
affair. Companies ought to build trust with their customers
through transparency.

In fact to earn customers' trust, make it clear that they can say
anything and the company will let their words see the light of
day online.

In the age of social media, it's easy to push delete after
receiving an unhappy message from a consumer. It's tempting to
think prospective customers want to read only shiny, happy news
about doing business with the company. But the fact is, all
customers want to know the truth about the company, even if it
hurts.

The good news is that in the age of social media, it's possible
to have a two-way conversation with customers, enabling them to
offer open and honest feedback
while providing an opportunity to respond.

1.Host many channels for customers
to speak with the company. Don’t make it hard for
customers to provide feedback. Be clear on the company website
that they can send an email or tweet or a Facebook post about
what they noticed or experienced.

Follow the example of 1-800-Flowers, which
provides many channels on its home page for consumers to easily
be in touch. Indeed just this very April 30, an exchange with an
angry customer remained posted, after garnering a response and a
resolution. This gives customers the impression that
1-800-Flowersis a responsive and caring
company.

2. Listen and respond to what
customers say. On July 4, the Starbucks
Facebook page carried a thread debating whether
Starbucks regularly sent coffee to U.S. troops. Despite the back
and forth, the anger and misinformation, Starbucks
representatives were patient and transparent in explaining how
much and why the company sent coffee to the troops.

In addition, the Starbucks website carried an
explanation, responding to a myth circulated that the chain
does not support the troops. It detailed how much coffee is sent
to servicemen and -women annually. CEO
Howard Schultz recently gave $30 million to returning
vets for post-traumatic stress disorder research and
committed to hiring 10,000 vets. These efforts demonstrate the
company listened to feedback and responded.

3. Thank consumers for brand loyalty and sharing
feedback (and passion). Hallmark Channel does
an outstanding job of thanking and encouraging fans on Twitter. No matter the
show appears, the broadcaster's staffers respond to fans and
retweet comments from stars on its shows. This gratitude for
Hallmark brand enthusiasm amplifies the loyalty demonstrated by
viewers.

The Cheesecake Factory is also active on Twitter, retweeting the comments of fans,
favoriting their tweets and thanking customers for their
loyalty.

4. Follow up and resolve issues identified by
customers. Many companies fall short in
followup. It's easy to apologize on Twitter or send a
Facebook message in appreciation, but it is another thing to
respond to the customer and show changes have been made to be
sure that no other customer has struggles with that obstacle
again. A recent study found that only 17.6
percent of companies respond to customer complaints within an
hour on social media. This is the next place where marketers
have to do a better job in taking transparency to a whole new
level.